My son sold a mobile phone to someone supposedly in Holland to send to his daughter in West Africa (Burkina Faso). He said he organised the UPS shipping (which he did but we got charged). After no money appeared and we tried to follow up a mail arrived saying he was going to send a bank draft of 30'000 euros and we could cash that and keep 2'000 euros (for a phone valued at 80 euros) and then pay his relative here in Switzerland the rest. There were lots of 'God be with you messages' mixed in with the scam. The email used was smithalexo1@yahoo.com and the name Alex Smith

Hi, thanks for contacting us. This is a very typical follow-up scam used by Nigerian fraudsters. First they rip you off once and then come back saying "sorry, it didn't work out, I will send you a cheque (or US Postal Money Order) instead."
The cheque (or PMO) will be returned as forged - after you took the money out of your account and sent it to the scammer by Western Union - by the issuing bank and you'll be out of pocket again.

You may receive a FAKE cheque still, they tend to try and get you to send them the balance and it's a common overpayment scam. Get in touch with ebay or whoever he used to sell the phone. Let them know what's happened, it's highly unlikely your son will be refunded the cost of the phone but he'll get back the listing fees.

You are correct. That is a typical fake cheque scam. Regretably, you have also lost the phone unless UPS still has it. It may be worth checking whether it has been delivered and if it has, nake a formal complaint to the local police.

However if it went to Burkino Faso, the local language is French and you are unlikely to have much joy!_________________la terre n'est qu'un seul pays